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New Drua signing is 'immense' and a 'household name' in Fiji

Jerry Tuwai of Team Fiji (r) and Meli Derenalagi of Team Fiji embrace (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Fijian Drua this week released the names of five new recruits ahead of the 2022 Super Rugby season, but one player, in particular, stands out.

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Last week the new Super Rugby side confirmed the signing of five new players, despite having agreed terms with 20 players to date. This week they confirmed another five, including sevens star Ratu Meli Derenalagi, as well as Flying Fijian and ex-NRC Drua stalwart Serupepeli Vularika, Namosi’s Vinaya Habosi, Suva prop Meli Tuni and NPC Premiership winning Tasman Mako forward Te Ahiwaru Cirikidaveta.

Fijian Drua have committed itself to naming the remaining 27 members of its squad for the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific competition before departing for Australia next month.

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Ratu Meli Derenalagi – nicknamed the ‘White Shark’ – got a special mention from both Fijian Drua Interim CEO Brian Thorburn and Fiji Rugby Union’s General Manager of the High Performance Unit, Simon Raiwalui.

“Ratu Meli Derenalagi needs no introduction as a household name in Fiji, a former 7s captain and an Olympic gold medallist. We have no doubt he will thrive as a Super Rugby loose forward under the guidance of Head Coach Mick Byrne and other coaching staff,” said Thorburn.

Raiwalui was equally enthusiastic about the signing of the 23-year-old Nadi backrow, who stands 6’5 and weighs 97kg.

“At just 23, Ratu Meli’s contribution to Fijian rugby has already been immense,” said Raiwalui. “With his speed and ball-handling skills, he adds dynamism to the squad as a backrow forward or as a scrum anchor. His aerial skills make him a decent line-out option as well.”

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There was also mention for the Drua’s other new recruits.

Thorburn has however admitted that the side will have to contract a number of players who are not eligible to play for Fiji, into the team.

“There is a possibility that we may seek to contract a very small number of players who are not eligible for Fiji in the first year or two, but only to fill positions where we do not have adequate depth from Fiji players. Our intention is to only recruit players who are already capped for Fiji, or who are eligible to play for Fiji.

The purpose of the Fijian Drua is to give the national union a Southern Hemisphere professional side that will centralise emerging Fijian talent, players who would be otherwise spread across professional rugby competitions around the globe, with the ultimate goal of improving the national team. This of course has to be balanced against limited financial resources and the need to be competitive in next year’s Super Rugby season, when they will be playing some of the best sides in the world.

FIJIAN DRUA SQUAD SO FAR: Meli Derenalagi, Serupepeli Vularika, Meli Tuni, Vinaya Habosi, Te Ahiwaru Cirikidaveta, Napolioni Bolaca, Tevita Ikanivere, Nemani Nagusa, Simione Kuruvoli and Onisi Ratave.

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JW 1 hour ago
France player ratings vs England | 2025 Six Nations

Sorry my delivery on that joke was a bit bland. But to reply to the couple of good points you make, to me it just seemed like they had no plan with why Gatland was staying on. I mean the plan seemed to be “just get us a win against Italy and we can continue on as we are”, which is just terrible if that’s what Gatland was trying to achieve for Wales imo.


Did it just happen to be Italy that he saw his team weren’t able to achieve his vision of success? I mean Italy are a very good side so its by no means a lost cause to not look like world beaters. Sure his focus should have been on more transient factors like growth and style for a full rebuild, not trying to avoid the wooden spoon.


Which brings me to you main point, that would be exactly what the benefit of dropping down a tier would be. A chance to really implement something, get good at it, then take it up a level again once you’re ready. Even for Italy it must have been an incredibly brutal environment to have been trying to develop as a side.


Not saying of course that the other EU teams would be any better, but it might be better for everyone if say ‘years of tough losses’ are shared between countries, rather than see Wales go through this journey two, three, possible four years in a row. Of course the main reason they don’t want to miss just one 6N season is because it would probably tank the game in their country missing out on all that revenue. I have always said they should look at widening the revenue share, there are plenty of competitions that have systems to keep bottom teams competitive, and the 6N would only make more money if it was a tierd competition with prom/rel.

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